Humorinamerica

LATEST ARTICLES ( 325 )

• An Interview with Chris Gilbert, Author of “Caricature and National Character:...

  

  Want to order the book? Here is a discount code: ZOOM40 T ell me about your start in humor studies. How and when did you begin pursuing it as a subject? who... Read more

  Posted on 10 August 2021 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• An Interview with Jim Caron, Author of Satire as the Comic Public Sphere:...

  

  Tell us about your start in humor studies. How and when did you begin pursuing it as a subject? who or what has influenced you as a scholar of humo r? My... Read more

  Posted on 27 July 2021 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• The Passing of Hal Holbrook

  

  Tracy Wuster Hal Holbrook passed away on January 23, 2021. In his honor, I am rerunning a post from several years ago. For more on Holbrook's career, see... Read more

  Posted on 02 February 2021 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• Call for Proposals: Humor in America Book Series

  Penn State University Press Series Editors: Judith Yaross Lee Tracy Wuster From Benjamin Franklin to Mark Twain, Mel Brooks to Richard Pryor, Our Gang to... Read more

  Posted on 27 June 2019 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• Chuck Berry’s Promised Land

  

  Matt Powell Photo by Jean-Marie Périer, 1964 Chuck Berry was a walking contradiction. An inquisitive and highly intelligent student, born into a stable middle... Read more

  Posted on 22 January 2018 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• In the Archives: Thomas Nast and Santa Claus (1862-1890)

  I can remember my first scholarly thought. Well, I should say that I can visualize the context of my first scholarly thought. Like a Polaroid of a younger me... Read more

  Posted on 23 December 2017 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• A Fond Farewell

  

  In October of 2011, Tracy Wuster took a chance and brought me on as poetry editor, even though I don't have the academic credentials of my HIA... Read more

  Posted on 18 December 2017 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• Raw Deals Revisited: The Early Novels of Thomas McGuane

  

  Joe Gioia Had Thomas McGuane's life ended before forty, lost behind the wheel or in some small-town motel misadventure, he'd be remembered today with the same... Read more

  Posted on 27 November 2017 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• CFP: Humor in America Conference, July 2018 in Chicago

  Call for Participants Sponsored by: American Humor Studies Association Mark Twain Circle of America Website:... Read more

  Posted on 07 September 2017 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• Call for Contributors

  " Humor in America " is looking for contributions for an August issue. Started in 2011, this website publishes pieces about American humor and humor studies. ... Read more

  Posted on 21 May 2017 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• Nerd Prom and Presidential Humor

  

  Last Saturday the Washington glitterati gathered at the Washington Hilton for what has become a major political event; the White House Correspondent's Dinner.... Read more

  Posted on 28 April 2017 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• The Unbearable Lightness of Don Rickles

  

  His humor is so rude, in such bad taste, that it offends no one - it is too offensive to be offensive. - Gay Talese Don Rickles is bigger than stand-up... Read more

  Posted on 14 April 2017 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• Humor in the Age of Trump

  

  Having been distracted from the study of humor by the spectacle of politics for the past six months to a year, I have yet to put together a cogent response to... Read more

  Posted on 25 January 2017 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• Opossum Carols, Or Walt Kelly’s Xmas Postludicrosity

  

  As the first snows of December drift across my South St Louis windows, and the last shards of Thanksgiving turkey find their way into the requisite casseroles,... Read more

  Posted on 21 December 2016 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• Happy Birthday, Julia A. Moore!

  Inspired by the outcome of the recent presidential election, I decided to devote this blog post to an ersatz poet instead of a real one. Julia A. Moore, the "... Read more

  Posted on 01 December 2016 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• Announcement: Humor in America Book Series

  Tracy Wuster I am pleased to announce the Humor in America book series at Penn State University Press. Although sharing a name and an editor, the series is no... Read more

  Posted on 28 November 2016 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• Keeping Up with the Fishes

  

  A historian of celebrity culture might include in a footnote the curious emergence, brief duration, and inauspicious decline of a "star system" in academic... Read more

  Posted on 24 November 2016 HUMOR

• Edwina Dumm: The First Woman Daily Political Cartoonist

  

  Edwina Dumm was the first female to draw political cartoons regularly for a daily newspaper in America. She was born in 1893 in Ohio. Her father was an... Read more

  Posted on 23 November 2016 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• Teaching the Irony of Satire (Ironically)

  Any time I get the chance to teach American satire, I begin by asserting its power. I use Mark Twain (who else?) to frame the course, taking a line from the... Read more

  Posted on 15 November 2016 HUMOR, SOCIETY

• Satire and Conspiracy: Partisanship, Trolling, and the Poisoning of the Public...

  Back to the RealTrueNews website - in case you're having trouble keeping track, this is the satirical post. It goes on from the Beanie Baby email, t... Read more

  Posted on 07 November 2016 HUMOR, SOCIETY